The inquisition starts now. Fresh from European elimination against Juventus on Wednesday night and after losing La Liga to Barcelona, some serious questions now need to be asked by the men who run Real Madrid.
Having claimed the Champions League and the Copa del Rey in 2013-14, talk back in August centred on a possible six titles in 2014-15. But Madrid won only two of those: the Uefa Super Cup and the Club World Cup. The two easiest - and both a long time ago.
This season was supposed to be all about domination. Instead, it has ended in capitulation. "Nothing is 'sufficient' for Real Madrid," president Florentino Perez warned on Thursday. And nothing is exactly what they have ended up with in their pursuit of the three titles handed out in May and June.
So where did it all go wrong? And how can Madrid put their troubles behind them to compete for the top titles in 2015-16?
After winning a trophy in their first game of the season by beating Sevilla 2-0 in the Uefa Super Cup, there were warning signs as Madrid lost out to Atletico in the Spanish Supercopa following a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and a 1-0 loss at the Vicente Calderon.
Days later, Angel Di Maria left to join Manchester United after being forced out by the club against the wishes of Ancelotti, the player himself and most of his team-mates. Xabi Alonso then moved to Bayern Munich and what looked a strong squad was suddenly left both short and imbalanced.
Without those two, the team took time to settle. Summer signings James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos both impressed and, after back-to-back defeats to Real Sociedad and Atletico again at the end of August and beginning of September, Madrid embarked on a record run of 22 straight victories that culminated in their Club World Cup crown.
But it came at a price. Luka Modric suffered a thigh injury on international duty in November and would miss four months of the season, before breaking down again in a match against Malaga in April, while there were fitness problems throughout the entire squad.
Croatia doctor Boris Nemec pointed the finger at Ancelotti following the second injury to Modric, claiming he had been overused since his return from the initial problem. "Ancelotti is to blame," he said. "He has played Luka every game since he returned." Without Modric in January, February and March, Real were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Atletico and lost ground in La Liga to Barca. And he was missing again when Madrid needed him most - against Juventus in the Champions League semi-finals earlier this month.
Ancelotti has bemoaned "bad luck" with injuries this season as Madrid's squad has suffered a total of 16 separate muscle injuries in 2014-15, losing players for a combined total of 62 weeks. "The team isn't tired," Ancelotti said in January. "I don't need to rotate." By comparison, Barcelona approach the end of the season without any serious problems after Luis Enrique intelligently juggled his squad in the earlier months of the campaign, keeping his players fresh for the all-important run-in.
Madrid should have done something similar, but the summer departures of Alonso, Di Maria and Alvaro Morata (who ended up knocking his former team out of the Champions League) left the squad short, with players like Asier Illarramendi, Jese, January arrival Lucas Silva and - for most of the season - Javier Hernandez failing to win Ancelotti's trust.
As well as Modric and James, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema both missed key games towards the end of the season and the much-hyped BBC trident failed to function efficiently since Christmas - even when all three players were fit.
Cristiano Ronaldo has carried on scoring as he always does, with a hat-trick in Madrid's latest match at Espanyol, which could not stop Barca winning La Liga. But he has become more of a penalty-box player in 2014-15. Now 30, the Portuguese seems unable to trouble defenders with his pace and dribbling as he once did and has also had to change his game in order to take care of a troublesome knee problem.
With Ronaldo now operating in a more central position anyway, Madrid should seriously consider switching Bale to his natural habitat on the left wing, where he played his finest football for former club Tottenham.
At Barca, Messi has returned to the right to accommodate Luis Suarez and the club's MSN forward line is flying. A change at Madrid could help the BBC return to former glories in 2015-16.
A specialist defensive midfielder would also restore some much-needed balance in the centre of the park, particularly against the top teams, while Benzema still probably needs better back-up than the willing but technically limited Chicharito - even though the Mexican may be useful to give the trio some rest in 2015-16.
Then there is the goalkeeping situation. Captain Iker Casillas no longer looks like the right man to take this club forward and with a deal for Manchester United's David De Gea seemingly in the pipeline, it may now be time for Madrid to bite the bullet and begin a new era between the sticks.
Whether there will be a coaching change is another big question mark. Ancelotti is popular with the players and they hope he stays, but president Perez is notoriously trigger-happy when his managers fail to deliver major trophies. "I would like to stay at Real Madrid," Ancelotti said last week. "But I know how things work in football."
Zinedine Zidane has been ruled out for now as he gains experience at Castilla, but Real are looking at other options, including Jurgen Klopp, Joachim Low and even Andre Villas-Boas.
Not long ago, Ancelotti was being discussed as a man who could potentially lead Madrid for years to come and build something special. But stripped of key players against his wishes and asked to accommodate others to aid a transfer policy more about shirt sales, money-making and business interests for Perez's construction company than actually meeting the needs of the team on the pitch, it is perhaps hard to see how any coach can truly thrive amid the meddling of the club chief.
"If I was in charge, maybe I would have done things differently," Ronaldo admitted in September, before being told to publicly back his boss and declaring his support for Perez.
Having won La Liga once in seven seasons, Madrid are now facing the second-worst Primera Division drought in their history and while Ancelotti has failed to rotate and has a poor record against the big teams, he is working under complicated conditions. And with only seven titles won since his return to the presidency in 2009 and many hundreds of millions spent on supposed squad strengthening since, it is surely time for some self-criticism from Perez, too.
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